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February 27, 2011

The Lodge Kitchen

"You look like a milk maid". This was my Gran's comment when I wore this dress during our shoot in the lodge. Perhaps it was a consequence of combining a plait with white and light blue material and a hem which reaches the floor. What ever the reason... I agree with you Gran, it is definitely not my favourite dress, but I suppose that this is what happens when you are on the dress making learning curve. The dress making process can be challenging, tiring and frustrating, and at times involves a garment rarely seeing the light of day. Unfortunately this dress falls into that category. For this reason I have decided to take part in Me-Made-March-2011 which is being hosted by the very talented Zoe 'So, Zo... What do you know?'. The idea behind Me-Made-March is that those who make their own clothes need to be proud and wear their handmade items, rather then leaving them to collect dust at the back of the draw. I have left a lot of my clothes back in Aus, so I have to get cracking to ensure that I have enough handmade items to wear for the month. I will keep you updated with my progress.

THE DRESS: I made this dress whist living in Geraldton and wore it to one of the Geraldton race days. It was a fun day full of horses, sun and booze. We had ventured to Kalgoorlie for the races a few years previously and I must say that Gero was a little more relaxed. Not so many people and not such an emphasis on the dress code. Many rocked up to Gero in their double pluggers and singo's, though most of the females made some sort of an effort. This was one of the only times that I wore this dress.

The dress was made on my dressmaking doll. It is a very simple dress as the tucks shape the bodice. You may have noticed that I am a fan of the honeycomb type tucking method and it is particularly nice using striped fabric (no need to measure the intervals for tucking! just follow the striped pattern). Initially I intended the dress to be at knee length, but decided to leave it long. I experimented with the fall by adding some honeycombing tucking close to the hem.

Unfortunately this dress wont be featured in my Me-Made-March-2011 contribution, as it now home on the other side of the world. However I am busy creating new garments ready for March, perhaps some featuring tucking!